1.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time

2.
High King of Ireland
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The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from the Hill of Tara over a hierarchy of lesser kings, stretching back thousands of years. The concept of kingship is first articulated in the 7th century, but only became a political reality in the Viking Age. Early Irish kingship was sacred in character, in the early narrative literature a king is a king because he marries the sovereignty goddess, is free from blemish, enforces symbolic buada and avoids symbolic geasa. According to 7th and 8th century law tracts, a hierarchy of kingship and clientship progressed from the rí tuaithe through the ruiri to a rí ruirech. Each king ruled directly only within the bounds of his own petty kingdom and was responsible for ensuring good government by exercising fír flaithemon. His responsibilities included convening its óenach, collecting taxes, building works, external relations, defence, emergency legislation, law enforcement. The lands in a petty kingdom were held allodially by various fine of freemen, the king occupied the apex of a pyramid of clientship within the petty kingdom. This pyramid progressed from the population at its base up to the heads of noble fine held in immediate clientship by the king. Thus the king was drawn from the dominant fine within the cenél, the kings of the Ulster Cycle are kings in this sacred sense, but it is clear that the old concept of kingship coexisted alongside Christianity for several generations. Diarmait mac Cerbaill, king of Tara in the middle of the 6th century, diarmait died at the hands of Áed Dub mac Suibni, some accounts from the following century state that he died by the mythic Threefold death appropriate to a sacral king. Adomnáns Life tells how Saint Columba forecast the same death for Áed Dub, a second sign that sacred kingship did not disappear with the arrival of Christianity is the supposed lawsuit between Congal Cáech, king of the Ulaid, and Domnall mac Áedo. Congal was supposedly blinded in one eye by Domnalls bees, from whence his byname Cáech, the business of Irish succession is rather complicated because of the nature of kingship in Ireland before the Norman take-over of 1171. Ireland was divided into a multiplicity of kingdoms, with some kings owing allegiance to others from time to time, Kings were often succeeded by their sons, but often other branches of the dynasty took a turn—whether by agreement or by force of arms is rarely clear. Unfortunately the king-lists and other sources reveal little about how. To add to the uncertainty, genealogies were often edited many generations later to improve an ancestors standing within a kingdom, the uncertain practices in local kingship cause similar problems when interpreting the succession to the high kingship. The High King of Ireland was essentially a ceremonial, pseudo-federal overlord, in the case of the southern branch of the Uí Neill, this would have been the Kingdom of Meath. High Kings from the northern branch ruled various kingdoms in what became the province of Ulster

3.
Terryglass
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Terryglass is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. The village is located on the R493 regional road on the shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. It is a parish in the historical barony of Ormond Lower. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe, Terryglass won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1983 and 1997. In the early Middle Ages, the place was known as Tír dá glass, a monastery was founded there by Columba of Terryglass in 549. He was the son of Colum mac Crimthainn and a disciple of St. Finnian of Clonard and he was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. The monastery became a centre of learning and produced the Book of Leinster, the Book is an important collection of history, tales and poems written in Middle Irish and is believed to be the work of Áed Ua Crimthainn, a 12th-century abbot of Terryglass. The Vikings frequently raided the abbey, in 843 an expedition led by Turgesius raided Terryglass and neighbouring Lorrha and in 1164 the abbey was burnt. A remaining wall from this abbey can be seen at the back of Paddy’s pub in the village, Terryglass has two holy wells, St. Aughs Eye Well and St. Columbas Headache Well. St. Aughs Eye Well is located on the quay and is dedicated to the 9th century Christian saint named Augh, local legend holds that Augh lost his eyes to a Danish chieftain who lived in Slevoir. Augh is reputed to have regained his sight thanks to water from the eye well, believers visit the well on Saturdays during the month of May between sunrise and sunset in search of cures for eye problems. The ritual begins on the flagstone facing the sun and continues with attendees reciting a creed,5 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Marys on each side of the well. When the prayers are completed their eyes are washed with water from the well, small offerings such as flowers are left on a nearby bush. The wells source is a nearby stream, legend claims that Saint Patrick baptised people in the well when he visited the area. St. Columbas Headache Well is located in the village of Terryglass and it is named after Columba and is alleged to cure headaches and migraines. GAA Shannon Rovers GAA which incorporates Terryglass, Kilbarron and surrounding areas and is based in Páirc an Phobail, SOCCER Shannon Rangers FC, also based in Páirc an Phobail. Kit colours are black with red trim for the junior team, CYCLING Terryglass is on one of several north Tipperary Cycle Routes. This 65km route starts at Banba Square, Nenagh and is listed as a day cycle